Stuck in the Pliocene
by PrehistoricCat
Summary: Connor tries to stop Helen from killing the first humans, but there are revelations about his future that will shatter him. Rating increased for chapter 2, please read A/N - chapter 3 now up, bit of Abby/Connor if you squint.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

**A/N: I've played around with the canon version of episode 3x10 so that the relationship between Helen and Connor could be explored ... Please review and comment, it feeds the plot bunnies!**

* * *

Connor wasn't concerned by the fact the anomaly had just closed behind him, not yet anyway. He had just one thought on his mind; he had to stop Helen Cutter. He took a moment to take in his new surroundings, trying to assess where and when he was. If he'd been right about the significance of "333", then this was the Rift Valley; the cradle of civilisation, and Helen was about to try and kill the first humans and stop evolution in its tracks.

He still couldn't quite get his head around it; surely not even Helen was that evil? Then again, a woman that can murder her own husband in cold blood couldn't possibly be of sound mind. He couldn't see any sign of her in the immediate vicinity, which meant she was either hiding somewhere waiting to pounce on him, or she had moved so quickly she was already out of sight. He decided to err on the side of caution, and assume she could attack him at any moment. With a sigh, he sat on a rock and opened his rucksack to see what he had that might help.

It was then that he realised how alone and vulnerable he was. Danny was the one with the gun, Abby had the tranquiliser and he had ... his handheld anomaly detector, the anomaly opening device that didn't work and a bag of mint imperials. "Great!" Connor growled, throwing the bag down in anger. Why hadn't Abby and Danny followed him? He thought they were right behind him, but they must have hesitated a moment longer than they should and the anomaly closed before they could follow.

"Focus, Connor!" he told himself. "You can do this." He tried to gather his thoughts and make sense of what had been a very confusing day. It was a day that had begun with Abby visiting him at Lester's place and them having a conversation that left him feeling confused. To be fair to Abby, she was about to say something when the anomaly detector went off and they had to go and deal with the herd of Embolotheriums.

It had all happened so fast after that; Danny turning up with that woman they thought was from the future, and her using that device to open an anomaly right in front of their eyes. Connor had been almost speechless when he saw that – to be able to predict anomalies was one thing, but to actually open them at will was an entirely new, and very exciting, prospect. She had said that the technology was simple, and he actually had one in his possession. He couldn't wait to get back to the ARC and pull it apart to see how it worked – that's if he ever got back to the ARC.

He had so many questions; the artefact that now lay shattered on the floor was obviously some kind of map of anomalies – he had worked that out before of course, but now it seemed it was used to program the devices. He'd watched Helen work out her route and download it onto the opening device, and then disappear through the anomaly. It hadn't taken him long to work out the connection between the numbers he and Sarah had uncovered on the artefact, and the code the computer needed to work. He wanted to know how it all worked, who had made it... but he had to wait. There were other priorities now.

The Palaeontologist in him had wanted to linger in the Cretaceous for a while, but being chased by three juvenile Raptors had put an end to that little daydream very quickly. He was thankful that Becker had given them the stun grenades, though he had very nearly come a cropper when he had forgotten to put his fingers in his ears. If he hadn't grabbed Abby's leg as he fell, he would have ended up on the ground, no doubt unconscious and easy bait for any nearby predator. Abby had realised just how close he had come to falling too, and she hugged him close for a moment. It was a hug he'd savour for a long time, but over too soon because Danny was already tracking Helen's progress. As they climbed down from the tree that they had been hiding in, Connor realised that his opening device had just died. They had no way of getting back home unless they could somehow get hold of the one Helen had.

The three of them had raced towards where Danny had seen Helen through his binoculars, just in time to see her disappear through an anomaly. They were about to follow her, when Abby commented that the anomaly was already weakening. "It's going to close any second!" she said.

Connor made a split second decision. "Someone has to stop her!" He declared and ran through it, moments before it collapsed and died. He had left Danny and Abby stranded in the Cretaceous era, and he was here in the Pliocene era – alone and with no way of going back.

Connor knew he had to concentrate and put all thoughts about going home to the back of his head. If he didn't stop Helen, there wouldn't be anything to go back to anyway. He stood up and pulled his rucksack onto his back, took a look around him and started off towards the valley he could see stretched out below him.

-o-

He had no idea how long he'd been walking for when he found them. "I'm too late!" he said out loud. There were 13 of them, all dead; their bodies stretched out. He crouched down next to one, a male that looked about the same size as him. Connor found himself crying, weeping for his ancestors and the fact he had failed them.

"You're too sentimental, Connor." Helen's voice interrupted his thoughts.

He turned around angrily. "You're sick!" he spat. She simply laughed. "How do you manage to sleep at night?"

"I can survive on very little sleep. I have so many plans and sleeping would just be a waste of time."

"Well, this little plan has failed." Connor said, suddenly realising something he had learnt at University. "This was supposed to happen. They found 13 bodies anyway. Killing these hominids has no effect." He felt almost smug.

"You're not as bright as you think you are, Connor." Helen said. "There are more hominids around here, you' d be surprised how few it took to start the human race."

"But your plan will only work if you manage to find every single one, won't it? Maybe it's you that isn't as bright as you think you are?" he couldn't believe he was speaking to her in this way, maybe the thought he was going to die anyway made him braver.

"I admit that the task is perhaps a little more demanding than I anticipated at first, but not impossible. With your help..."

"You want me to help you?" Connor shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't think you have much choice." She said seriously.

"No, you're right. If I help you, I die because the human race won't exist. If I don't help, you'll kill me. I'd rather you just killed me now, because there's no way I'd help you."

"Actually, Connor, you're worth more to me alive than you are dead – for the moment. You have skills and knowledge that I can use." Helen said.

Connor let out a laugh. He had a bargaining tool- she needed him, and he could turn that to his advantage somehow. If he could make her believe that he might help, then perhaps he could get hold of her anomaly opening device and go home – or in the very least go back to where he'd left Abby and Danny. Maybe he could even steal whatever she was using to kill the hominids with?

"So, suppose I do help you? What's in it for me?" he said.

"The satisfaction of knowing you have saved the planet from being destroyed by humans." Helen smiled.

"You do know that nature will just balance itself out? Another predator will evolve in our place. And that assumes you actually do stop human evolution. We're just in one tiny corner of the world, but life is evolving everywhere." Connor could see from the look on her face that he was getting to her.

"You sound exactly like Nick. It's such a shame that the path your life has taken in this reality has led you in completely the wrong direction. " Helen spat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Connor said.

"Oh come on, Connor, think! Remember Claudia Brown? Life is not one simple, straightforward road. There are twists and turns, and parallel lines, and events in one changing the path of another."

Connor screwed his eyes, both in confusion and tiredness. He sort of understood what she meant, he'd watched enough episodes of Dr Who to know that you couldn't rely on time being linear.

"Maybe it's time I explained everything to you, Connor." Helen said, softly. "Once you understand what happened to me and the things I know, then maybe you'll agree with me."

"OK. Tell me." Connor said, sitting himself down. He was certain that there was nothing Helen could say that would make him think like her, but he was interested in what had turned her into this monster.

Helen sat beside him, took a deep breath and began her story...

-o-

"I was restless; a woman approaching her thirties with nothing of any significance to show for my existence. Nick didn't understand, and even Stephen was reluctant to risk everything on a whim. I needed to find something that challenged me – and that was when I read about the creature sighting in the Forest of Dean. Most had dismissed it as a big cat that had escaped from a private zoo, but something told me this was different.

That was when I met him; the man that changed my life. He was handsome, charming, and had a smile that could melt the hardest of hearts. I guessed he was in his late thirties, and that he was some kind of scientist. He was investigating the sighting as well, except he claimed he knew what it was, where it had come from and how. I was intrigued of course, and asked him to explain.

I had laughed at him when he said he was from the future, but as he spoke I found myself believing him and being drawn into his world. He told me that he and his friends were Palaeontologists who also had a common love of bad Sci-Fi movies and computer games. One night over a couple of beers, they had joked how brilliant it would be if they could actually travel in time and see the dinosaurs for real. My friend, however, actually began to make it a reality. Over the next 18 months, he created a device that opened tiny portals in time. They were barely big enough to fit his head through, but it was enough to know that he had succeeded.

With the help of his friends, he created another device. It was bigger and more powerful, and the portals it opened were large enough for someone to walk through. They had created the first anomaly!"

Connor stared at Helen. "So this man, why was he in the Forest of Dean in the late 1990s?"

"I'm coming to that, Connor. Have patience." Helen purred. "At first, they just messed about and had fun, but they soon realised that the anomalies were opening on their own and were rapidly getting out of control. Various creatures were coming through them, and his two friends were attacked and killed by a deinonychus. He vowed that he would do everything in his power to stop the anomalies, but didn't know how. That was when he decided that the only way to stop them was to make sure they never existed in the first place. That was why he had travelled to that time period; to stop his teenage self becoming so obsessed with dinosaurs."

"But he didn't succeed." Connor sighed.

"No. I talked him out of it. I can be very... persuasive, and he was such an attentive lover." Helen smiled at the memory.

Connor snorted, trying to hold in his disbelief. "You slept with him and that was it? He forgot all about his dead friends and decided not to stop the anomalies after all?"

"It wasn't quite as simple as that. We travelled through a number of anomalies, seeing amazing things together. I became obsessed with him, I would have followed him to the end of time if I needed to, and he began to see the potential of the anomalies. We made a good team, I thought we were perfect together in every way... and the sex..." Helen sighed.

Connor rolled his eyes. "Spare me the details! Your adulterous activities don't interest me. What happened to this man from the future?"

"I don't know. We got separated when he went through an anomaly that closed behind him. He probably doesn't even exist in his reality now. By creating the anomalies, he changed his own past. His younger self is now..." Helen stopped. She turned away.

"Where is he now?" Connor demanded.

An evil smile spread across Helen's face. "That man from the future, the one that created the anomalies, the man who was one of the most amazing lovers I have ever had..." she took a deep breath. "His younger self is staring at me right now." She waited for it to dawn on Connor what she had just said. She could see him thinking, turning it over in his mind.

"You're lying!" he spat angrily. He stood up and glared at her.

"Am I?" Helen sneered.

"I don't know what you hope to get out of me by making up all this..."

"I'll prove I'm not lying to you. You have a birth mark just above your left buttock, and a scar on your inside right thigh where your sister stabbed you with a pair of scissors when you were 10 years old." Helen smiled and waited for Connor to react.

He dropped back down to the ground, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. There was only one way she could know about his scar and birth mark, and that thought terrified him – she was telling the truth. Not even Abby knew about those. He couldn't speak. This was too much to take in.

"I think it's rather amusing." Helen said after a while. "You changed your own past, and therefore your own future. Isn't time travel a wonderful thing?" Her voice sounded almost like a cat's purr. "And it was you that made it possible in the first place."

Connor was sat with his head between his knees, his hands over his ears and his body rocking back and forth. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" he yelled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

**A/N: Warning, contains Non Con sex ... if that bothers you, don't read**

* * *

Helen perched herself on a nearby rock, and pulled a penknife from her pocket. She began cutting into something resembling a melon and eating small pieces of it. Connor was sat with his back to her, his head still buried between his knees. She almost felt sorry for him; this was a huge thing for him to come to terms with.

"You should eat, Connor." She said, offering him a chunk of the fruit. He turned and silently took it from her, nodding a thank you. "I understand how this is difficult to take in. Believe me, when I realised who the young man that Nick was brain washing was, I was shocked too."

"Cutter did not brain wash me!" Connor said angrily. "I happen to think that he was right."

"I should have guessed that our paths would cross at some point, given that we are all in the same field of expertise. I just didn't expect you to be a follower; the man I knew was a leader and people listened when he spoke. It was almost disappointing." Helen said. "Still, the Connor I knew was almost 15 years older than you are now, so there's still time."

Connor turned his back to her again. He needed to be alone with his thoughts; to try and focus on what all of this meant. He was responsible for the anomalies – all of this was his fault. Tom, Stephen and Cutter had all died because of him and now he had put Abby and Danny in danger too. He tried to put the fact it also appeared he had an affair with Helen out of his head; he would get his head around that later.

The question was, what did he do now? Helen was the only one who could get him back home, so he had to go along with her for the time being. She still seemed pretty determined to carry out her plan to kill all of the hominids, so he somehow had to stop her from doing so whilst making her think he was going along with her.

"It'll be getting dark soon." he said. "We should probably think about finding somewhere to shelter."

"You're right. I think I spotted some caves a little way back. It would make sense for us to get some rest tonight before we move on to find the other hominids." Helen replied.

Connor followed her, struggling to keep up with her catlike movements. He was glad no-one else was here to see him so willingly going with her. It went against everything he believed in, but he had no other choice. If the human race was going to survive, it was down to him; and if he was then going to get back home and stop the anomalies, he had to stay with Helen.

-o-

They had only been walking for about half an hour when they came across the stampeding herd. They hid behind some protruding rocks to watch the deer-like creatures; Connor open-mouthed and wide-eyed the whole time. This was the sort of thing that kept him going when he was fed up of the paperwork and endless research – scenes like this made it all worthwhile.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" Helen whispered. Connor simply nodded. "We shouldn't linger for long though; a herd doesn't move like that without good reason. Something has spooked them, there could be something dangerous just behind them."

Connor sighed, knowing Helen was right. "Let's go." he said reluctantly. He followed her along the ridge back towards the anomaly site, struggling on the rocky terrain. He was beginning to wish he'd stuck more rigidly to the fitness regime Becker had devised for them all. He paused to get his breath back whilst Helen pressed on, and that was when he spotted it. It appeared to be some kind of sabre-toothed cat, probably a Dinofelis. That's what had made the herd stampede earlier. It was crouched close to the ground, stalking something. At first, Connor assumed it was waiting to pounce on a creature, but then he realised it was watching Helen.

Just as he was about to warn her, the cat took its chance and pounced. "Helen!" he yelled, and she turned, just as the cat sunk its claws into her shoulder. Connor screamed as he saw her fall to the ground. He had to do something; he couldn't just leave her to die. He grabbed several rocks and began throwing them at the cat, yelling as he did so. Several caught it on the back, and a couple hit its head. It turned and looked at Connor, and for a moment he thought he was going to be the next victim. He threw another rock and was about to turn and run, but the cat ran first.

"You OK?" Connor said, rushing to Helen's side. Her shoulder was bleeding quite badly and she seemed visibly shaken.

"We were lucky. That was just a baby; if that had been an adult it would have torn my limbs off in a second." she said. She pulled away the fabric of her shirt to examine her wounds. "There's a bottle of water in my rucksack, Connor. Pass it to me so I can clean this."

Connor rummaged through her rucksack, and his hand touched something familiar – the device for opening anomalies. He thought about taking it and sneaking it into his pocket, but Helen was watching him too closely. At least he knew where it was when the right time came.

"Here." He said, handing her the water bottle. "Need a hand?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I spent 8 years looking after myself, this is just a scratch compared to some of the injuries I've had." She smiled. Connor took the opportunity to have a rest, stretching himself out on his back and using his arms as a pillow.

After she had cleaned her wound, Helen also stretched out; positioning herself next to Connor. "You saved my life, Connor. Thank you." Helen purred.

Connor sniffed. He couldn't quite believe he'd done it. He should have just left her to die, but that wasn't his style. Despite knowing she wouldn't hesitate to kill him, he had to help her. Cutter would have done exactly the same.

"I'm sorry I can't offer more help, but the first aid kit is in Abby's rucksack. They never trust me with anything important." he half laughed, trying to make light of it.

"If only they knew the Connor that I do. They would show you more respect if they did. Your talents are wasted with them." Helen whispered, edging closer to him. "And if Abby had any inkling of what she might be missing..." Connor felt Helen's hand on his crotch. He shifted himself away, but Helen followed.

"I should say 'thank you' to you properly." She said, her voice sounding husky. She placed her hand on his crotch again, this time more firmly. Connor froze, was she actually _cupping_ him?

"Get off me!" Connor said. He was actually starting to feel scared.

"Oh Connor, relax for once in your life!" Helen laughed. "You and I were so good together." She was now caressing him, and he could feel his cock reacting in a way that petrified him. He didn't want this at all, but his body wouldn't move and his throat felt like it had been cut.

"I'm doing you a favour. When was the last time you had sex?... in fact, have you even had sex yet? You've spent the last 4 years mooching around after Abby." She was now straddling him and unfastening the fly on his jeans.

Connor felt a surge of anger sweep through him. "I said, get off me!" He tried to push her off, but she grabbed his wrists and pinned him down beneath her. She pressed her body against him and moved her face closer to his. He could feel her warm breath on his cheek and it made him feel sick.

She forced her lips against his as her hand reached inside his jeans and grabbed at his erection. Sheer terror was now taking over; inside he was screaming "No!" but he could neither speak or move, and he knew he couldn't stop her.

He shut his eyes and tried to disconnect his mind from what was physically happening to him. Maybe if he didn't put up a fight, this would be over with quickly and she would leave him alone. He heard the sound of a zipper being unfastened, and then moments later she was on him. He heard her sigh and he knew he was inside her. He wanted to scream, he wanted to hit her, he wanted to cry, but most of all he just wanted this nightmare to end. He bit his lip, determined not to give her the satisfaction of seeing any kind of emotion from him.

Helen was grinding herself against him so that he was moving in and out of her with an increasing pace. She was breathing hard and groaning in pleasure – at least someone was enjoying this. Connor felt that familiar tingle in his groin, and he had never felt so relieved in his life. His nightmare would be over in a matter of seconds. He let out an involuntary gasp as he released, emptying himself into Helen. She was moaning his name repeatedly, but he tried to shut that out.

The second she pulled away from him, he was scrambling to his feet; his only thought being that he had to get away. He heard her laughing as he ran up the hill. He was gasping for air but he didn't stop, not until he was well out of sight. His stomach lurched and he was violently sick several times. He continued to retch, even though his stomach was empty and then his tears began to fall. He was angry with himself for not putting up a fight, and angry with Helen – she had no right to take what she had just taken from him. He curled himself into a ball and sobbed. He had been romantic – maybe naive – enough to believe his first time would be with someone special; Abby perhaps. Now he didn't have that.

He sat up and scanned the landscape around him. How could he face anyone now after what had just happened? The fact he was responsible for the whole mess in the first place was bad enough, but now he also had the fact he had just been raped by a woman to deal with. Raped. Even just the word made him feel sick again. No-one would believe him if he told them anyway. A man should be able to fight off a woman, right? He must have actually wanted it? Maybe the only way to deal with all of this was to end his life now. He closed his eyes and contemplated his next move.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

**A/N: Final part. There's even a little bit of Abby/Connor if you squint at it LOL**

* * *

Somehow, Connor had managed to fall asleep. He was completely exhausted; physically and mentally, but the rest had not really refreshed him. He had also hoped that he would wake up and find the previous day's events were just a terrible nightmare, but as he glanced down towards the ridge he could see Helen already up and about.

He hated the fact that he couldn't just run away from her. Even though he'd rather be dead right now, he knew he needed to begin putting things right – starting with helping Abby and Danny to get back home. He needed that anomaly opener that Helen had if he was going to stand any chance of doing that. Sooner or later he was going to have to face her; but he would be on his guard now. There wasn't going to be a repeat of last night; he would be ready this time if she tried it again.

"Connor!" he heard her call. "We should move on before that cat comes back."

Reluctantly, he made his way down to join her. He refused to meet her eyes, looking down at the ground instead.

"Sleep well?" she said. Connor sniffed. "You should have stayed down here, I expect it was quite chilly up there."

"I was fine, thank you." Connor said gruffly. "Now, which way are we heading?" He needed her to believe he was still following her to assist with killing the hominids if the plan he was slowly hatching was going to work.

"I think we need to carry on along the path of the river. The hominids are most likely to have settled by a water source. If we're going to find more, then the river is our best course." Helen moved forward with obvious purpose. Connor gave a sigh and followed. He knew he had to be patient, but his stomach was still hurting from vomiting so violently last night and it reminded him of the reason he so desperately needed to get away.

They both paused to fill their water bottles, then crossed the river at a shallow part to a smoother trail. The sun was already fairly high in the sky and Connor wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep going in this heat, especially with his stomach feeling so bad. "You're still intending to try and kill all of the hominids then?" Connor said after a while.

"That's why we're still here, Connor." Helen replied. "Humans cannot be allowed to destroy the planet in the way that they have."

"Will killing the hominids work though? Evolution will still find a way to happen. All you'll succeed in doing is maybe setting it back a few thousand years or so." Connor wished he knew more about early man to be able to throw more at her.

"We don't know, Connor. But I have to try." Helen strode onwards, and Connor had to practically run to keep up with her.

-o-

It was some hours later when they came across a pair of hominids. Connor watched in awe from behind a rock as they knelt down and drank from the stream. They had the appearance of humans, and yet Connor knew they weren't quite there yet. He almost forgot himself for a moment as he took in the scene and he realised that this was the very reason his future self had created that first anomaly – to witness the past instead of just guessing by piecing together tiny shreds of evidence.

Suddenly he became aware that Helen was rummaging in her rucksack. She pulled out a small plastic bag containing some kind of powder, then placed the rucksack down on the ground. Connor couldn't believe his luck – he knew the opening device was in there, and it was within his reach, unguarded. He watched Helen kneel down and begin to pour some of the powder into the stream – it was now or never. He wished he could stop her from poisoning those hominids, but he had to do this whilst Helen was distracted.

He opened her rucksack, and pulled out the opening device almost straight away. The lights on it were flashing, which he hoped meant it was working and fully charged. He stood up and took a deep breath, his nightmare about to end.

"What do you think you're doing, Connor?" Helen said. His heart sank. He hadn't been quick enough. "I hope you're not thinking of leaving me here?"

Connor felt a wave of anger sweep through him. "I'm ending it now. You may have managed to dissuade my future self from stopping the anomalies, but you can't control me."

"Oh, I think I can. You act like a brave hero, but inside you're just a weak boy who allows himself to be brainwashed by others." Helen said, her lip curling in a near snarl.

Connor raised his hand, trembling. He held out the opening device and prayed it would work. As his finger hovered over the button, Helen grabbed at his wrist and tried to pull the device from his hand.

"Give it back to me, Connor. There's a good boy." Helen said.

"Over my dead body!" he yelled.

"If that's how you want it." Helen smiled. The two struggled against each other, Connor determined he was not going to let go of the opening device – it was the only way he would be able to help Abby and Danny. "Don't make me do this, Connor." Helen said.

Connor was defiant. If this was how his life was going to end, then so be it. At least he was going out with a fight. Helen had the packet of poison in her hand and held it close to his lips. She was trying to force him to open his mouth. When he refused, she punched him in the stomach, making him yell out. Before he knew what was happening, she has poured some of the powder into his mouth.

He froze for a moment, then stared wide eyed at Helen. The trembling had stopped; what did he have to be afraid of now? He pressed the button on the opening device and made a final dash for the anomaly that had just opened. In his mind, he had won. She had said he was worth more to her alive than dead. He had created a way for Abby and Danny to at least find Helen, and they would be able to get home.

-o-

Connor had landed on the floor of a forest, face down. It looked familiar, and he hoped that meant that this was the spot where he had last seen Abby and Danny. He turned his head towards the anomaly and was vaguely aware of a figure coming through it – Helen had followed him. Then he heard a familiar voice and he knew the next part of his plan could begin.

"You were right, Abby! Quick!" Danny called.

"Connor!" Abby yelled, and she was at his side. "What's wrong?"

"He's dying." Helen said, matter of factly. "He said he'd rather die than give up the opening device, so I helped him along." She waved the packet containing the remains of the powder in the air.

"What?" Abby grabbed Connor's cheek and made him look at her. As she caught his eye, he winked at her. Abby was puzzled. He indicated towards her water bottle which was fastened to her belt. "You want some water, Conn?" she whispered. He nodded. As she placed the bottle on his lips, he sat up, took the bottle from her and took a mouthful. He swilled it around his mouth and then spat it out.

He grinned at the three shocked people around him. "Little trick I learnt when I was a kid and me gran tried to get me to take cod liver oil!" he said.

Abby flung her arms around him. "You idiot!" she said, almost sobbing. As she pulled him closer, she could feel that his skin was clammy and he looked very pale. He may not have swallowed whatever Helen had made him take, but some of it had obviously still got into his body. He was not well.

Danny could see the look in Abby's eyes and sensed something was wrong. He moved towards them and took the device from Connor's hand. Connor closed his eyes; he could let Danny take over now, there was nothing else he could do.

"Let's go home." Danny said. Abby nodded and pulled Connor to his feet, allowing him to rest against her shoulder.

"This is all very touching. The three musketeers reunited." Helen purred. "Enjoy it whilst it lasts, Connor. Once your friends learn your dirty little secrets, I doubt they will be so willing to be at your side." She turned and disappeared through the anomaly, back to Pliocene era.

"I'll go after her, you get Connor back home and to a hospital." Danny said to Abby.

"No." Connor said. "We all go home. There's no point going after her, she's set herself an impossible task and she'll realise that before long." That was the last thing he remembered as his head began to spin.

-o-

(one week later)

Connor was fed up of feeling sick, although he was enjoying being fussed over by pretty nurses. He'd been unconscious for 12 hours after Danny had carried him through two anomalies to get back home. His stomach had been pumped and he'd had so many injections he was beginning to feel like a pin cushion. Abby had been at his side most of the time, holding his hand and trying to make him laugh. Before the events in the Pliocene, he would have given anything to be in this situation with Abby; but now... if she knew the truth she would hate him.

"I dug out some of your comics from under your bed." Abby said, breezing into the room like she did every day.

"Thanks." He said.

She sat on the bed next to him and stroked his cheek. "How're you feeling? You have a bit of colour back today."

"A little better. Still feel like I want to throw up all the time."

Abby nodded, and then there was an awkward silence before she spoke. "The doctor said you had another nightmare last night."

Connor turned away. He could recall every vivid detail of his nightmare; he was back in the Pliocene and Helen was straddling him whilst he was frozen to the spot.

"If you ever want to talk about it..." Abby said, placing her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off.

"I don't."

"I just want to help, Conn. I'm worried about you. What happened back there?" She put her hand on his shoulder again, this time he allowed it to stay.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you." He blinked away his tears.

"Whatever it was that Helen made you do, it doesn't matter. You did what you had to do to get us home."

Connor took a deep breath and turned back to face Abby. Maybe he could trust her with some of it? "She told me about my future. It's all my fault. Tom, Stephen, Cutter... they all died because of what I do in the future."

"How is it your fault, Connor?" Abby said.

"The anomalies... it was me." He began to cry. Abby pulled him to her chest and stroked his hair. She rocked him gently and whispered that it was OK.

"That's what she meant by your dirty little secrets?" Abby said. Connor nodded. He couldn't tell anyone the rest of it, not even Abby. Abby forced him to look at her. "But that wasn't you. Your future has already changed because of what you're doing now. If you created the anomalies in the first place, then somewhere inside that daft head of yours is the knowledge that we need to control them, and stop them!" she laughed, then kissed his cheek. "If anyone can do it, it's you."

He remained silent for a moment, thinking. "Abs, what I just told you..."

"Don't worry. It's our secret, if that's how you want it." She stood up. "I have to go. Lester's having a team 'pep' talk." She rolled her eyes. "I'll come and see you later." And with a quick peck on his cheek, she breezed out almost as quickly as she had arrived.

Connor smiled. Abby was right. He did have the knowledge somewhere inside him, he just had to find it. And when he did, he was going to sort out this whole mess he had got everyone into.


End file.
